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Matt Richtel and Brian X. Chen on Tim Cook

Monday, June 16, 2014

We do things because they’re just and right. If you want me to make decisions that have a clear R.O.I., then you should get out of the stock, just to be plain and simple.

We all know the legacy Steve Jobs left behind. Even if his methods were questionable, his accomplishments were undeniable. Equally undeniable is the interchangability of Apple, Inc. and Jobs himself. Jobs was Apple, and Apple was Jobs.

Since his death, many have been left wondering precisely what Apple is. To answer that, we have to ask who Tim Cook, Jobs's successor, is.

Matt Richtel and Brian X. Chen set out to answer just that question in their latest piece for the Times. Everyone will come away with something different, but I think the above quote summarizes the shift quite nicely. Some see Cook as a disappointment, saying he's lost the magic that Jobs brought to the tech world (and indeed the world). That may be so, but it's difficult not to see Cook as a necessary evolution of the largest company in the world.